Israel’s government tender committee disqualified the Turkish company Yilport Holdings from participating in a tender to operate the port of Haifa, according to Feb. 14 reports in Israel, because of alleged affinity of its owners to a French Lebanese company suspected of ties with Hezbollah.
Over the years, Israel has been confronted with problems both in the port of Haifa and Ashdod, because of the strong labor unions that controlled their operation. To solve this problem, and for other reasons as well, another port was built in Haifa. The new port, operated by a Chinese firm, has started to operate. The old port is undergoing a privatization process of being sold to an operating company. The tender in question concerns the privatization of the old Haifa port.
